By Robert Nilsen
CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College baseball team (12-2) stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Allan Hancock Bulldogs (4-9) by the score of 6-5 at home on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers entered the game ranked No. 4 in Southern California.
Connor McCollum (1-0) got the start for the Chargers and worked 0.1 innings while allowing 4 runs and 4 hits. Kenneth Pettibone (0-0) relieved McCollum and shut down the Bulldogs over the next 4 innings as he allowed just 2 hits while striking out 5. Jake Mahood (2-0) shut down the Bulldogs in the ninth inning to grab his second win of the season. Pierson Loska (1-for-3, 2 RBI) and Matt Schmidt (1-for-1, 2 RBI) led the Chargers offense.
Will Dowell (3-1) started the game for the Bulldogs and shut down the Chargers over 6 innings as he allowed 1 run on 6 hits. Phillip Martin (0-2) received the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing the Chargers to score the go ahead run.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the first inning after they loaded the bases and took a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch. Allan Hancock tacked on 3 more runs in the inning with 2 runs coming on RBI singles by Brendan Gomez and Kyle Von Tillow to take a 4-0 lead.
The Chargers slowly crawled back into the game as they got 1 run back in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Chargers loaded the bases with nobody out and managed to squeeze across 1 run after Cory Wildhagen (2-for-3) scored on a fielder's choice to narrow the Bulldog's lead to 4-1.
The Bulldogs extended their advantage in the eighth inning after Wyatt Coll recorded a 2 out pinch hit RBI single to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead.
With little margin for error, Cypress began a rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. Garrett Calvert (1-for-1) came in as a pinch hitter and led off the inning with a single. Following a strikeout, Tyler Smith (1-for-3) singled and Willie Aguilar (1-for-3) walked to load the bases with 1 out. Loska came through with a sacrifice fly to drive in Calvert and cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-2. The Chargers would add a third run as Smith scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Brandon Alamo (1-for-4, RBI) brought home a fourth run with an RBI single over the head of the third baseman to cut the Chargers deficit to 5-4. Sensing an opportunity to tie or take the lead the Chargers sent in Schmidt to pinch hit for Angel Ortiz (0-for-3). Schmidt delivered as he crushed a 2-run home run over the center field wall to give the Chargers a 6-5 lead. Cypress shut down the Bulldogs in the ninth inning as they came away with the victory.
Cypress baseball will return to action at home on Tuesday, Feb. 28 as they take on El Camino at 2:00 p.m.
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